VERWOOD TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB

We had several changes due to holiday commitments and work requirements but nevertheless had a good squad to meet Fawley on home turf.

It was a quick start similar to last week with Davies breaking left and cutting the ball back from the edge of the area. Vining tried to lob the keeper who had strayed slightly from his line but the ball whipped over the angle.

Fawley tried a long ball down our left with 6 minutes gone but Ballard won the tussle and found Kimber in the middle. A defence splitting pass for Vining followed but the ball again was wide of goal.

Gajic and Joy were tested by a free running forward line but the support of Evans and Ballard kept our back four looking solid.

15 minutes (same as last week) Vining's free-kick established a 1-0 lead.

Fawley hit back with some good football and Tierney was called on a couple of times in quick succession to keep the sheet clean.

21 minutes saw Gajic winning a strong tackle and sparking a retaliatory strike. Eaton collected Gajic’s through ball and his pass across the edge of the box was seized upon by Head. A cracking volley brought out a great save by the keeper.

24 minutes and Kimber chipped a ball into the corner of the area. Vining stole in to bring yet another good save from the keeper.

It was a good half for us and we’d had only a coupe of close calls before the whistle went for half time.

Half Time 1-0

We started badly in the second half and within a coupe of minutes of the whistle yielded two corners. Gajic steered the first wide and then Ballard won an aerial battle to clear the ball upfield.

Tierney produced a great save from an angled volley and then Joy did an excellent shadowing job steering a player into dead ball.

We almost increased the lead when Head and Dyer linked to free Vining but again Fawley’s keeper did well to take a catch under the bar

On 56 minutes we lapsed concentration and paid the price when a break through the middle gave room for a shot and this time Tierney couldn’t bail us out. 1-1.

65 minutes Hatch came on for Eaton. His presence in the box a minute later was enough to create a chance for Vining and this time our leading goal scorer hammered the ball into the bottom corner 2-1.

67 minutes and we went down to 10 men as an Evans tackle was judged too harsh and a red card followed.

Fawley saw the opportunity of upsetting the score line and applied intense pressure. Head showing his versatility had dropped into the left back spot and a great sliding tackle stopped a cross on 70 minutes.

We rallied, and a move down the left sent Davies away. A defender seemed keen to have Davies’ shirt for his night out so we won a free kick. Kimber stepped up and floated the ball on to the spot. Frantic attempts to clear had the ball pinging around until Gajic put paid to anxieties with a right foot blaster making it 3-1.

75 minutes and on came Dodds for Ballard. Seconds from hitting the turf Dodds slammed a cross shot inches wide of the post.

5 min to go and Fawley’s pressure got them a second. Then we had a nail biting 9 min as the ref gave injury time as 4 minutes.